After a six-month pursuit, West Bengal police have apprehended a security guard accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Bhondsi. The accused, identified as Suraj (24), originally from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, had a history of involvement in approximately twelve cases of theft and snatching in Gurgaon. Furthermore, he had previously evaded arrest by jumping bail. The arrest comes in response to a complaint filed on August 29 last year at Badshapur police station, where a man reported that his minor daughter had been sexually assaulted by Suraj.
The complainant and Suraj were residents of the same neighbourhood in Bhondsi.
According to the complainant, the girl was alone at home on August 28 while her parents were at work when the crime took place. Suraj, who was then working as a security guard in a housing society, allegedly promised to give the girl some chocolates and lured her to an isolated place in Bhondsi, where he forced himself on her. He allegedly threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed her ordeal to anyone. The child later confided in her parents.
Based on the father’s complaint, a case was registered under sections 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, and relevant sections of the Pocso Act. Suraj, meanwhile, had left the city by then to evade arrest. Police started a search for the accused and conducted raids at several places to no avail.
Following a six-month-long search, law enforcement successfully located Suraj in West Bengal. Inspector Satish Kumar, the station house officer of Badshapur police station, along with his team, apprehended him in Kolkata last Saturday. Subsequently, they brought him to Gurgaon on Tuesday under a transit remand.
“To evade police, Suraj changed locations frequently and did not stay at one place for long. While on the run, he also stole around 12 mobile phones from a hotel in Delhi,” said the officer, adding that the accused also used to change identities and gave a new name at every place he stayed.
In 2018, Suraj received a five-year prison sentence for a snatching case documented at Sushant Lok police station. Following two and a half years of incarceration, he was granted bail in 2020 and failed to return, as per the police statement.